Can You Hear Me?
by Erufuu
Summary: On their usual missions of slaughter and looting, Gaige separates from Krieg after an ambush. Now the two are searching for each other, hope waning. The resulting search leaves for many odd conversations and weird adventures. Rated T for language.
1. Separation

There wasn't enough wood, to keep warm in the Fridge. There wasn't enough anything- Perhaps if there were bullymongs about, Gaige could slice one open and tuck herself in, like a fortress of rotting flesh and singed fur. But in this instance, all the wood had gone towards putting a splint on her leg, where she fractured her ankle. With every strangled breath, she found herself coughing either blood or spit, and neither was particularly wanted.

Sure, she could leave and return to Sanctuary- it would be warmer there, with the amount of people, the unrequited love of the citizens and their obsession with Vault Hunters. But she had left someone behind here, had left them for dead, wishing to save herself. There was no heroism on Pandora, but she strongly believed that's what he did- tried to save her. And she quickly repaid him by abandoning him to the rats.

There was no doubt he was warm- his ability to breathe fire definitely would keep him cozy here. No doubt that he survived, he was stronger than she could ever be. Sure, she had Deathtrap, but his constant deployment only resulted in his quick dematerialization with how hard it was to fight now. But she returned to thank him, to continue to work with him- even if she would never understand him, never quite get why he was so determined to kill and yet never harmed her. Being a psycho, she assumed that that was all that was to him- slaughter and money. But he was too different, and that ignited a curiosity that she could not tame, and a part of her knew that was why she stuck with him. A desire to know what had made him this way, as he was the only psycho she could really ask without having to kill shortly after.

It would wait, though, until she located him. Now that they were separated, it would be difficult to regroup, especially when the Fridge was overall so large. They had never made a plan to regroup- and if he had told her a place, she had not understood his words –and Gaige did not even know if he would still be here. But for now, she was here. For now, she would kill, and use the corpses to keep warm. The tires that littered the center of the Fridge would have been a nice place to set up camp, if the Rats didn't chase her from the proximity to begin with. Honestly, her best bet was to put a bullet through her skull and respawn, but the New-U was 'temporarily' down. How temporary was that, she questioned mockingly, when it had been down for the past week. Perhaps more, time was impossible to keep.

The taste of her own saliva was disgusting- but it built up, every time she thought of food. It would have been nice if she had some slices of pizza; Claptrap did offer, and she did take, but it was gone now. With two mouths to feed- and one mouth being the catalyst to a stomach that did not cease to intake food- it had been hard to scavenge anything for herself. She needed the psycho at his fittest, when Deathtrap could not be summoned, and when he was inevitably taken down or leaving. It left her with enough to keep going, but that wasn't enough when the energy expenditure was tenfold, with fighting. She found herself always hungry, though she did well to hide it from her... acquaintance.

She did not even know his name, taking to calling him 'That Psycho', when he was the topic of conversation. Between her and Salvador, his name mattered very little. Maya- who brought the creature to Sanctuary begin with, stirring up all the inhabitants and giving the original four Vault Hunters a scare- had wormed a name out of him, she assumed. 'Krieg'. Though... Even then, she doubted it was truly his name, not when he could not answer any simpler questions. There was no way that he had given her a name without something more.

_Perhaps something like poop, _Gaige thought, laughing to herself, only to frown when the white huffs of frozen air left her mouth. It was definitely too cold for jokes, but the warmth of her own breath was comforting enough. She brought her hands to her lips and breathed, only to shiver when cold air touched her metal arm. It made the flesh that it was connected to cold, and ultimately left her worse off than she already was.

Could she take a break and sleep? Or would she be dead before her eyes reopened for the morning? She wouldn't even know if she made it to morning- not in the Fridge. Perhaps she should go, keep herself alive. That is what the creature wanted, she was sure, when he screamed at her. It had been the first time he had said something... relatively normal. It had sounded harsh... though what wouldn't, coming from his mouth?

* * *

_"Leave," he groaned, rubbing a bite mark on his leg. They were surrounded by corpses... ashes. The rats that had claimed they smelled delicious clearly did not take a whiff after the fire was good and done with them. It did not matter- Gaige was taken aback from the psycho's words, teeth bared but mind devoid of words to say. The smell of their surroundings did not register in her mind until the man turned away from her when she demanded to know why._

"_I have to be here," Gaige argued. "Maya wants us to watch out for you. You're not _sane_. We can't trust you, not until you give us a reason why. Just... just saving her life is not sufficient enough for me. Who knows, you could've done it out of your own convenience." _But it was only her and Salvador who shared that mutual distrust. It was Salvador's words that led her to believe this man could possibly kill them, and Axton's skepticism. Though he was more tolerant than Salvador, by far, when it came to this man. Salvador did not let the fact go by that it would have been much easier to kill things not targeting you- and to Gaige, it made sense.

"_Don't want you," He snarled, turning his head back to look at her with empty eyes. "Don't need. Leave."_

_Gaige shook her head- and that was the end of the argument, and the death of any future conversations. They did not talk to each other, walked in silence as they fought through the Fridge. Up until their meeting with the Mutated Lab Rats, they remained silent. It was the screaming, Gaige's pain and the psycho's excitement, that broke their lingering pact of quiet. Their soulless eyes, blue when lasers shot from them, stared them in the face when they were slaughtered, but the damage had been done to Gaige's leg. She laid in the center of them, clutching her wound, the gash that definitely looked worse than it felt. It was the sprain that she had caused that hurt most, and that would heal with time. It was unfortunate that they had none to spare._

"_Give me your buzz axe," Gaige demanded. "If you can find me some metal, I'll just hack it off. No big deal- I can make a prosthetic leg and we can keep going." _It was her solution to everything, and she did enjoy it very much. The others did not, told her to limit it to her arm. But it was an emergency- but not really- and she figured they would understand.

_Her hand was outstretched to accept the weapon, and the man was all too eager to give it to her... for a moment. He then pulled it away, and she saw a flash of restraint in his eye, for just a moment. Nevertheless, she was upset at being denied. "Give me the axe. You're wasting time."_

_The psycho's grunts sounded deranged, as if he was arguing with himself, against giving her the blade and doing nothing. Whatever inner fight he was having, it did not help her at the time. "Fine," Gaige hissed. "If you're not going to do that, as least find me some wood or somethin'. And something to wrap my wound. We can't sit here, they'll steal our stuff and smell the blood."_

_When the creature's head moved down to note the blood seeping into the snow, he did as he was told. Once she had patched herself up, the silence returned. Beyond the occasional yells of the psycho for someone to stop talking to him- Gaige had stopped responding to them, once she realized the words were not directed to her- they remained in quiet. The scent was not hidden quickly enough, and another barrage of rats swarmed them. When Deathtrap had dematerialized, they were separated. The psycho was far enough ahead to hear her asking him to wait, and he did not have to be close at all for her to hear his response._

"_Run," he yelled, though it sounded equally as strangled as his other commands. She opened her mouth to retort, only letting a scream go by as she felt her shield go down, and her blood go down her back. "RUN!" He screamed, furious at... something. Gaige did not know, but she felt herself running- limping- with her makeshift crutch. She ran, looking at the ground, the only indicator that something was occurring behind her, with silhouettes of creatures going down, and flames illuminating her path, or at least that was what it seemed. She did not know when her legs stopped, only that her eyes closed when she apparently found it safe enough to stop._

_When they were opened, it was near the machines Marcus used to pawn off guns, and Zed used to sell cheap vials. The doorway had been closed, and she was safe from the rats. But something compelled her to turn back. Whether it was her conscious of leaving an 'ally' behind, or a sudden wish for revenge, she did not know... but she took a few vials from the dispenser, dealt with what it healed, and reopened the gate to her frozen hell._

* * *

How far had he gone? She would never know, there was no way of contacting him. He didn't have an ECHO communicator, and she didn't feel like leaving hers behind. Ultimately, that is what she did, and she had quite a lot to say. She did not know if he would understand her words- he never gave indication that he did in the past- but for once... she said his 'name', to make sure he would know it was him that she directed this plea to.

"Krieg, if you're hearing this..."


	2. Drop of a Hat

"_Krieg, If you're hearing this... ah, no, screw that shit. Like... Alright. So I came back to help you, and I can't find you. And we never thought you'd actually even use an ECHO locator, so we never bothered to get one for you. Kinda sucks now that I can't find you. I'll be here in the Fridge if you ever find this. Or I'll go back to Sanctuary, I'm sure, since you're so damn hard to find. I will be fine, DT is with me and stuff. And truthfully, these rats aren't too hard. My leg is still healing, though, so it will be slow going. But if you could meet me where... well... I don't know. I'm sure you won't stay put if I ask you to stay with the Fast Travel. But that'd be cool if you did. Or... I guess perhaps we'll bump into each other. If you go back to Sanctuary, I'll definitely see you there too. That's all. Stay safe, you psycho."_

* * *

It had not occurred to him that the girl had cared too much. She seemed annoyed, always yelling... but that was to be assumed, with how abruptly her group was interrupted, with his arrival. Perhaps it was out of pre-conventional motives- he would not put it past her, she could act childish at times- that she had returned to seek out his safety, but nevertheless the notion was sweet enough.

That was, the fact that she would try to reason with the self-proclaimed monster. _Poor girl,_ he thought. _She returned for me. People still... help. That siren woman did, and now this young girl is back in this snow coffin to bring me back. We should return-_

The thoughts, as they always did, provoked a throbbing pain to his head that he found out of his control. _Yes, yes, you want me to shut up. But we made that pact. You _find _that girl. You might not like her, but you _find_ her. She came looking back for you. She _cares_. Someone cares. Isn't that what you want?_

The creature outside his control was a little more relentless, when it came to being demanded to do something. He stomped his foot for a moment, letting out a tantrum that the inner him had no intention of putting up with. _We're going. I will _make_ you go._

It was that easy, to feel the force that the internal voice did have on him. His legs struggled against him, his arms forcing him to sit up from the little crease of snow that he had built for himself, sitting on the ground and listening to the ECHO. It was like a skag dragging its rear along the empty lands of The Dust. And all the while, he did not fight the push as hard as he could have, though his mumbling did not give any signs that he was willing to help. Nevertheless, he was all for doing so, as it gave him reason to kill along the way.

But after a moment of both outward and inward struggling, the two entities came to an agreement that it would be impossible to find the girl. There were no leads, no foot prints, just an ECHO that he could not trace now that he had it in his hands.

_Hm._ _This may be harder than expected. While unfortunate, we have to- What are you doing?_

"Blood," he responded, darkly but simply. He kept the ECHO in hand, the message Gaige had left erased. He spoke into it, his hand tightening on the little recorder. "The blood of innocent... **her** blood will **not** be spilled."

_But it will, _the voice hissed. _We cannot find her... not like this. Perhaps we should go back and request help from the other vault hunters. Or maybe stay. It might be a while, but she'd have to come back at _some_ time-_

"Then let's kill time_** killing**__!_" Krieg raised his saw after tossing the ECHO into the snow, bursting out into a blood-curdling scream as he charged the rats, eyes ablaze. He felt himself more light, as he was not forcing himself to fight against forces that he did not comprehend. The voice was hushed, as well, deciding for once that the violent side of him could possibly handle himself. Or get them both killed, but he was mostly along for the ride.

_Where will we find this girl?_

"Don't know," Krieg grunted, shrugging as he raised a giant arm- an understatement, when the limb had the left side of his body tipping over- above the head of an unsuspecting rat bastard,. "Listen for the screams. Agony. Whether it be her death or another. We will find **death** one way or another, and taste the **blood** from a **mile** away!"

_I would think that finding her alive would be our priority,_ the voice sighed. _But do as you wish... for now. These... things deserve it. Much more than we do. We are an abomination, a creation from Hyperion... but we are here to protect the-_

"Shut **up**!" Krieg bellowed, plunging his saw into the skull of a wee rat to drown out the sound of the silent voice in his head. The saw grinding bone, the blood spurting from his skull with the effect of a water fountain... It was more than pleasing to the more violent half, while the saner of the two decided to let go for the moment, and kill. That was something they could agree on.

His world went red, and his mind drew to a blank.

* * *

How long had it been since he lost control? It was always difficult, relinquishing full control to the man who possessed a good deal of their body's movements. But when he finally managed to fade back into consciousness, the little control he had... all he noticed was splatters of blood, and he found himself frantic for a moment. _The girl, _the voice hounded._ Where is the girl? Is she okay?_

Krieg sat, jittery, fiddling with his axe while the voice ranted in his mind. The usual about not taking an innocent life, not touching an innocent with the intent to harm... And the new addition of panicking for the young girl who had returned to seek out his company, his safety. Someone still cared. Very little, perhaps, but it was a little spark that kept him warm enough to traverse the Fridge looking for her.

_Are you done with your rampage, then? _The voice sighed, impatience all too clear.

At the sound of chattering, and Krieg's eagerness to react in the manner in which he was accustomed- "**NIPPLE SALADS!**"- the voice found himself overtaken by a lust for blood, and a supposed craving to use the entrails of the rats as a jump rope. The ECHO was long gone, too... there would be no recovery for that. He had no idea how far they had traveled from the Fast Travel, what time it was... when he should return to Sanctuary. When he _could_ return to Sanctuary.

Could he go _without_ Gaige? Would that be too suspicious? Salvador would clearly suspect him- though he was not the most trusting human he could possibly think of. It would be a mess, trying to find someone who was looking for him... his best method would be to calmly it and wait by the Fast Travel, but-

_Where are we?_

Krieg shrugged, which gave the voice an edge of worry.

_How far did we go? Can we return to the Fast Travel station nearby?_

Once Krieg moved his head to look at his prize, a dead woman donning a bloodied green shirt and a mouth agape, probably to let out the last screaming breath she would ever produce. Once he was satisfied with the view of her innards, carved by his axe, he gave another shrug. For a moment, the inner voice was enraged... but upon closer inspection, forced by the voice to glance over the innocent he had thought he killed, it was a woman living amongst the rats.

_Strange. _The voice pondered. _Very odd. I guess she does not count as an innocent- What... is that? Pick it up. Do it now._

Krieg was not too eager to comply, but he picked up a little hat from off the woman's body.

_That belongs to Gaige..._

* * *

_** AN: I post crappy things and fix them later. Sorry.  
Thanks for reading, following, and favoring, folks.  
_


	3. Hyperion's Property

There was not much that Gaige had regretted in life. Losing her arm, traveling to Pandora, getting third place- Well, no, she would never understand that much, but hey, she was alive. Unlike Marcy. Nevertheless, she was alive and not regretful of most of her choices... sans returning for Krieg. Now, she was on a limp without her makeshift splints, without her hat or the little eye patch that came along with the gift, surrounded by an enclosure of rats that thankfully did not acknowledge her presence, too preoccupied with the items she had dropped. Oh, she would have loved to keep them, love to make money off of them, but those guns- oh, she just supplied guns to rats, how wonderful! -were useless and the only way to distract creatures with the attention span of... well, rats.

That was how she escaped. But her hat had no relevance, really, to the throwing of her guns. Alone, that rat queen was a little too much. All that she could throw was something for aesthetics- you would think this would come _before_ the guns, but Gaige admitted she was a little... vain. Deathtrap's mechanical hum was nearby, and that was the closest she could feel to safe. Though his presence did not last long, for those moments she felt she could sleep without waking up to murderous screams, and when he was gone she was out of her little doze, more vulnerable than she had been prior to taking it, more desperate for another nap than she could ever ask for. And though she would not give up money for it- but the rats took a chunk of it regardless- she was too drowsy to fight another nap.

So when her eyes closed, she dreamed of robotics. Her father- how was he doing? Without her, he could rest a little easily, though she was sure he was as bored as she was terrified for her life- and of sweets. Her curls made some sort of good leverage, and her hair was a mess overall... snow particles that never had the intention to leave left her hair with some of her curls in loose strands, and the water had washed away her makeup- Not that she was complaining. Although it was a lighter version of what Moxxi applied, she did not like to wear it for long. It was cute, when she wasn't in battle, and she was definitely fighting more often than not.

It was a stretch, but she mounded up some snow and sat her gun on it for leverage. Then her head was rested on the gun and she closed her eyes. Perhaps, in the little containers, no one would interrupt her. Deathtrap could wait there, for the initial lulling of her sleep, but she knew he was limited to only a few moments, but that would be enjoy to let her heavy eyes fight against her instinct to live. Just this once, she would give into the comforts of flopping over and letting sleep take her. She did have another gulp of the vial beforehand, hoping her flesh wound would fully heal with this last drink, and also to supply herself with liquids before she would go so beneath her own standards to drink the snow, which she was sure was filled with either rat piss, blood, or something equally as unpleasant, as their ashes. She chose the whitest patch of snow she could muster up, but that did not assure her of much.

It was dreadfully unfortunate for Gaige, however, to wake up minutes later. She would have much preferred being unconscious, perhaps, but she kicked the rat munching on her boots off. That domino started a bunch of others to tilt and fall, when the rat cried to its companions that there was a living human in the Fridge. With a sigh she scrambled to sit on one leg and left the other sprawled out, raising her hand to the rats in the beginning of her summoning Deathtrap. Once he was out and fighting with claws, she used some of her own digistructed claws to slice through the buildup of snow that she had created to protect at least one side of the crate, and begin her run for it. Painful, with a sprained ankle, but the desperateness and the pumping of adrenaline through her body was definitely a benefit.

At the sound of Deathtrap dematerializing, Gaige ducked into a crevice where the stalkers found themselves inhabiting. Yes, it was dangerous to be around literally _anything_ in Pandora. But when she had to compare a death by rats or by stalkers... She was considerably more willing to die being pierced by a Stalker's needled tails and their sharp teeth. It was better than feeling the rats gnaw at her flesh, steal her things... At least, her death would not be slow. Or at least she thought of it that way: either way, she had the feeling that she was fucked.

There was no real reason for her to return, and now it was now high amongst the little selection of her regrets. Krieg was probably fine; he handled himself well, and generally never had a problem with falling into incapacitation... Until he began to beat his skull in, but that was one of the many questions she never had bothered to ask him. There was too much to him that would never be answered, and only one question that she had been able to retrieve the answer for herself.

* * *

_"Ohhh, man, I could go for like... burgers. Can't you go for burgers?" Gaige laughed, kicking the corpse of a bandit, of which she had slashed to bits with her claws. "Like... I know Pandora is a shithole and everything, but I'm sure Moxxi serves up something good. Like... maybe skagburgers or something. I remember eating normal stuff when I was back home. I used to love grilling up burgers with my dad. How about you?"_

_Nothing but an awkward silence. Gaige gave an exasperated sigh and turned to Krieg. "There has to be like something you can remember. Something that you like to eat. There's like practically nothing to you besides screaming. Do you not like to do... normal things? I know Maya just found you near the station and all, but there has to be some kind of purpose to you. Tell me what you like!"_

_When the monster turned to look at her for a moment, and she felt the incoming of a breakthrough, Gaige gave a smile that was all too quickly gone at Krieg's response. He whipped his head back around at what Gaige thought was the scent of burning flesh. When it was indeed that, she was not surprised that Krieg ran off screaming._

"There is no me, there is no you! There is only the never ending spit and bile of combat! The twenty-four hour murder spree of shining metal! I drink the blood and eat the loot and breathe the numbers, because I AM A MONSTER! NOW AND FOREVER!"

_Gaige stared at the man, unsurprised when the blood of the bandit whose scream did not last very long, splattered on her cheek. She wiped it off with an unamused frown, folding her arms. So much for conversation. There was no point to trying to make small chat, but the silence would drive her insane, and she didn't feel like talking to herself when the psycho did just about enough of that for her. She sighed, finding herself a crate to sit on and a poster board to stare at to pass the time._

_Counting the numbers that hung under her own name. Eight hundred and twenty billion dollars... All for the creation of Deathtrap and... being adorable, which she definitely appreciated that compliment. The figure was a pretty penny, too, could she turn herself in?_

_She gave a little giggle before continuing to scan over the others._

_There was Maya- where did they get these mugshots?- who was wanted for a hundred billion less... Just for being a Siren. That was pretty cold and unfair... But then you had Zero, as weird as he was... with only thirty-two billion for doing some 'political assassination'. She thought that would be more... punishing than any species of person. Axton's was generally understandable- war crimes. Lastly, Salvador. Though he was to be expected to have a bounty, but only having ninety-nine billion- and ninety-nine cents?- was equally as surprising as the long list of things that he had done! At this point, Gaige was convinced they put random numbers and random crimes, when 'profanity' was one of the list. Anything that Salvador could possibly say couldn't beat Handsome Jack's vocabulary, for sure._

_And Cannibalism? Since when had Salvador committed _that? _That was outrageously gross, and perhaps looking around more often- should the man snap- would be advised. Cannibalism seemed to be something for the new pet psycho, if anything. Gaige let out another little giggle, turning to the man as he literally ripped the heart out of a man who did not get the pleasure of finishing his scream. She gave it a moment to see if he would actually eat the corpse, before turning back and looking at his own poster._

"_Property of Hyperion," Gaige whispered to herself. She turned back to glance over the psychotic creature, looking him over. "Could he be a spy or something? I can't really say he's that smart..." The price was only a hundred billion, which was a decent enough number. But she thought Hyperion would definitely pay more on his head than her own. Were the figures really bullshit, after all? There was no way she warranted such an amount; even she would surrender the technology for Deathtrap's creation in exchange for her own bounty. She could always make a more refined DT with a better AI, if anything. Perhaps the shield restoration move could not target Krieg- he always seemed upset about that!- or give the enemies back their shields, making it essentially very difficult to kill them and the skill itself very useless. There was a lot to do with eight hundred twenty billion dollars, and she had a strong interest in it._

_It took her a while to stop her shriek when she saw the bloodied psycho walking up to her. She glanced him up and down, calming considerably when it was Krieg, but still feeling an ounce of paranoia that he apparently used to belong to... them. 'Property' or not... but the word still left an air of curiosity about the man. For a moment, there was an sadness in those eyes that was not shadowed by the usual emptiness and hunger for blood, and Gaige found herself apologizing for _him_ startling her._

* * *

In the midst of her daydream, Gaige found herself watching the stalkers, looking through them at times, paying attention to how they mated- Which, they did not. Asexual reproduction on Pandora- especially of Stalkers- is a horrid thing to watch. Perhaps that was why there was an abundance of them, much to her chagrin. It was easy to slump back against the cold wall and relax for a moment. Nothing was aggressive- not yet, but soon when she began her move she was sure they would locate her scent- and she was still drowsy from her run. Her leg was starting to heal well, now, with the many healing vial intakes... but not fast enough that she could outrun everything blocking her way from the Fast Travel.

No ECHO Locator. All the loot she had procured was gone. She wouldn't complain, if she could escape with her life, but nevertheless the situation was bleak. If she summoned Deathtrap, he would surely begin a fight without her command, being the aggressive bot he was. The best solution was to relax for a moment, and recuperate.

At least, for that moment, she was safe. For that moment, she was fine. For the next... not so much. Not when the Stalkers heard her shift ever so little, felt the movements of the ground, and all eyes were on her, teeth bared.


	4. A Crown of Meat

Krieg was a little sidetracked, the inner voice hushed to allow him to do as he pleased, which led to a constant slaughter and an abundance of screaming nothing but imminent death for those who found themselves in his path. For the most part, they were just rats and easy to kill aside from the occasional Badass Psycho that had no reason to be in the Fridge and the Mutated Lab Rats that made physical damage a real pain to cause. Not to mention the area itself was nothing but cold- but Krieg was pumping enough adrenaline to ignore the breeze, and if that wasn't enough, the blood of others made a good enough coat, in his logic.

_Remember we are looking for the girl. We can go back to Sanctuary then. If we go before hand... we'll have to explain. Perhaps the Siren will be more forgiving. We'll talk to her first before anyone, alright, Krieg?_

He took the responding grunt as an acceptance. At least, they had the same intentions, agreed on the same things... Occasionally. The methods of which they were carried out was slightly out of the inner voice's control, but nevertheless the goal was being sought out, and he would not complain as long as no innocent blood was spilled. Coloring of red inside his mind told him that that was exactly what was _not_ happening, the oh too ecstatic screams of a psychopath and the not so placid shrieks of the rats reminded him of his predicament.

Once it was done, sounded by the sound of Krieg's buzz axe being sloppily removed from the midsection of a rat and the body hitting the floor in the most ungraceful manner, the inner voice took it upon himself to start conversation that he knew would not go anywhere.

_You don't miss how we were, I don't think. I don't believe you do. Maybe I give you- us- too much credit, but we are just a monster, aren't we?_

The saw blade hitting his head shook him up a little, but it wasn't enough to deter him from the point. The second was a little too much, especially when he was quieting down a little. The third was outrageous.

_Alright, alright. Fine. Do what you want. I don't care. Just try to find the girl. This is our opportunity to prove that people still care. These eight vault hunters are our friends now... We have to protect them. They will do the same for us... I believe. At least, up until they turn on us... and even then... I don't want you to hurt them, Krieg._

The groan was one that the inner him could enjoy, and shamelessly partook in the action of a mental fist cheer, taking it for a sign of agreement. Nevertheless, it confused him when Krieg looked at his hands for a moment too long and began to close them into his palms.

_What are you doing?_

"Counting," Krieg responded bluntly. The answer didn't explain anything. Was he counting the bodies of the fallen? The days he had been locked into this situation? How many times he had hit himself in an attempt to silence the voice?

_What are you counting?_

The swarming pack of rakks that were extremely obnoxious to kill? _He seldom uses guns_, the voice noticed. _Too fond of the saw that he claims butchers the souls of its slaughtered victims and bakes them into meat pies as he does It... _But when it came to killing a rakk, he was not above taking out a shotgun, unless Gaige had done them the mercy and had Deathtrap doing the job.

"Our... friends," he responded, a little more normally now that his adrenaline rush gradually faded into nothing. "You said eight, I count four." It took the voice a while to realize it, but he instantly put the older vault hunters into the mix. They were not... terrible, upon meeting them- and they, too, had a Siren who got along with the blue-haired one he had met. For a silly moment, he thought that their hair colors were so startlingly different that it may be an indicator to their powers, but the girl had originally tried to _burn_ them, which did little to nothing to them.

_I apologize. Four. Three if you take away from the dwarf-like one. I do not think he qualifies as a friend, and in that respect you do not have to watch out for him- I am sure he would not do the same for us. But the others did not mind us as much as I thought they would. The other man was not terrible._

"Who?" Krieg groaned, still staring at his fingers and messing with them as he dropped the count to three. There were two other people he could specify as male, though he still was not too sure considering how slender... it was.

_Axton. He seemed... pardon my French, to be as much as an ass as Salvador, though not as brash. It is not that I care of him much, he still seems to be a good enough ally. Since we're still looking for a Vault- somewhat- I figure we could try to be... friends? With him._

"Not interested," Krieg decided with a raise of his voice and a start to leaving the Fridge. He felt the little inner voice sigh at the sudden lack of interest. "Best person trusted is yourself." It was understandable- but when 'yourself' kept smacking 'yourself' in the head, did that even really apply to them? The inner voice hushed for a moment, and only a moment, until he felt Krieg moving about and saw him putting on Gaige's hat.

_Are you really?_

"Less to carry, more space to kill."

_You really are. Do you expect to be taken seriously?_

As Krieg continued to walk with the little blue hat on his head, he threw his axe up to catch it to pass the time as he ventured the fridge. The inner voice took the lack of response for a yes. It was hard, despite how contradicting having a little girly hat on your head, to be dismissed when you had someone screaming bloody murder and charging you, he guessed. After a while, he knelt down to pick up some intestines that had been gorily shown to spill out of the rat and lined the hat with it.

_You're kidding._

"Sausage hat," Krieg grinned, proud of himself. "It is my crown, the shining, dripping proof that **I** am the guard of the flesh prisons, **I **am the law of the ten murdering commandments and the **queen** of the **ENTIRE MEAT KINGDOM!**"

_It is no wonder you and that... other man got along so well._

This time he referred to the man who called himself Brick. They didn't have as intimate of a conversation as the voice would have liked- "I killed this," The voice remembered the man boasting his skills. When Krieg described the way that he killed things and the two men came to an appreciation, they shook hands, and Brick was glad to welcome him into his group.

It wasn't a downside, that Krieg was making allies of a sort. It made him think they were growing to be normal- Oh, the timing of Krieg's screaming as he combusted into flames to melt the rats he slashed through was all too convenient for the inner voice to admit that the man was normal- and gave him the hope he had not felt in far too long. He would let the man continue his onslaught of rat death, but for some unknown reason, Krieg stopped on his own accord, pausing in a circle of rotting flesh and corpses. The voice gave Krieg a few moments to continue walking before giving a little prod of curiosity.

_What are you doing, staring at the ground?_

Not that he expected a response- and he did not get one, though at least Krieg seemed too intrigued by what he had been doing to hit himself to hush the voice either. When Krieg got up to keep moving- at the least, he had to finish their mission of finding what he believed was a midget when the person's name was "Shorty"- the voice was wondering why he was so keen with looking at one of the lab rats.

They had a large arm... Where had that been seen before? Along with the Badass Psychos, Krieg was a mix. But... they had to do with Hyperion, whereas these guys were probably irrelevant. Unless Hyperion had something to do with them as well, though he did not believe that was the case. It would be nice if he could inquire on it further, but with his catalyst being a man who could only make sentences- for the most part, sometimes Krieg had his moments in which he could make conversation, though it scared people more than his deathly ravings- out of blood and gore, there would be no way in finding out if Hyperion had only did... this to them.

Until they reached a place to wreck havoc, killing bandits would do. It would fuel the rage for the slaughter to come. But in a way, he had a pang of sympathy for these creatures, yet an overwhelming jealousy. If he was wrong, and they were not from Hyperion, then good on them. If he was right... What the hell was the real purpose? All the mutations that exist on Pandora... Perhaps it was a twisted way for Jack to have his fun and his way, but would one really put so much into something so tedious? Then again, there was a bounty on their head... There must be some reason for It. If they allowed all those other psychotic bandits to escape, what made _him_ so special?

A secret weapon that neither of them knew of? Though Krieg would not care, and perhaps would find it more intriguing to use it on those who had granted it to them, the voice was more interested in finding out how and why. At least, they had the means to reach their end.

_Stalkers,_ the voice pointed out. _We're getting clo- Look, dude, I just told you we were nearing the stalkers. You don't have to hit your head now. I'm not telling you what to do._

Krieg gave a shrug and headed into the Stalker Hollows. The voice would reminisce about the laboratory another time.

* * *

_**AN: Times Edited: 500. I do that a lot. Sorry. I end up only finding things when I'm NOT in OpenOffice. gg.  
**_


	5. Swallowed Whole

They arrived without interruption, to the icy palace that had stalker droppings dangling from the caves like stalactites- disgusting, but filled with loot like every other defecation of creatures on Pandora. It was not the sight of the droppings hanging from the cave roof- nor the sack that had pleasantly fallen on Krieg's head, evoking a laughter from him and a disgruntled groan from the voice- but the devastation that tore up the inner cave. Now it was a little more worrying that Gaige was around and that Krieg held her weapons- she had thrown everything, he noticed, when he killed the rats and saw equipment that was suspiciously the same as her own- meaning she was defenseless, but perhaps she was not... Not when everything had been shredded to bits and blood soaked the ice.

It was not safe to say that Gaige had defeated everything- Shorty was still missing, which left him a little hesitant- but she might have been around here. There was no other clue except the jagged gashes dug into the stalkers, and the fact that she was... well known to be able to create such a horrid pattern into flesh. What assured him of his suspicion was the second gash over the first going through every dead stalker's body. Either Gaige or Deathtrap had created them... or some other destructive creature that Krieg was all too excited to meet and create a new pair of fleshy sleets out of it, and that the voice was a little less eager to fight.

He's come into contact with Stalkers before, but Gaige was there to quickly dispatch of them. Without her, now...

Krieg felt the first signs of being bitten, of sharp teeth meeting flesh and tearing into muscle. He shook his leg quickly to relieve the pain, if only for a moment, and to rid himself of the stalker doing it. With another hiss and return, more of the stalker's buddies came to taste the treat that had dropped for them, and vanished all too soon after Krieg's eyes met with one. That was the problem- he did not use guns. He much preferred the comfort and intimacy of slicing through skin and bone, soaked in blood. But in this case- and he was sure Gaige would not mind- he took one of her shock pistols from her backpack and began to fire at random.

_Oh, please. We have used a gun before. Fix your aim._

"Shut up!" Krieg groaned in response to the lecture. "I could do better if I was just- able- to- see!" He paused for a moment, filling a bullet into the mouth of a stalker with every shot, and even then that did not stop the onslaught, only made it stop cloaking. That was enough for Krieg to chuck his saw in its direction, decimating it as it burst into flames on contact and had the little stalker screeching in pain and desperately jerking around to remove the source of its agony.

The pistol worked- though it was an odd one. Krieg had remembered watching Gaige use it once, in an odd manner. Sometimes she did not focus on the target itself, for maximum damage. She shot their knee, but where she had shot, a burst of electricity had risen up and exploded.

* * *

"_It's the fists," Gaige laughed, turning the gun on Krieg for a moment who did not react in the way she had hoped- fear, anger, something, but instead he stared at her with that one blank, uncovered eye before she pouted and lowered the pistol. "Boring. Anyway, it's the Thunderball Fists. I got it from Captain Flynt." When she spotted a little bit of emotion in Krieg- a simple raise of the eyebrow, but at least it proved he was able to make little movements and was paying her attention, she felt alright to continue talking. "Yeah, he was totally into fire, I know. He drops a fire pistol, too. But he dropped this, and you know me- I had to get it. Shock and all. It packs a powerful punch."_

_When Krieg punched into his fist as if he was ready to go, Gaige did not feel a smile coming from him, but she pretended that there was one, and it left her more able to leave her own soft smile up._

* * *

With the general idea of how the gun worked, Krieg shot himself a barrier of lightning around his feet, letting it shock not only him, but the vicious stalkers to an early grave.

_Can you at _least_ watch yourself? You'll kill yourself at that rate!_

Krieg disregarded the yammering in his mind, continuing to fire while taking a little hint to move every now and then, out of the range of the thunder balls. "**Cringe** as my fist enters your mouth and exits your poop tunnel! **Bleed **in that beautiful **blue** as I hack your body into two! Watch as I **play** in your **brother's blood,** you disgusting, ruthless creatures of invisibility and **HIDING EVERYWHERE AND NEVER-ENDING BOMBARDMENT.**"

_Gross. That's gross. Stop talking about- Oh. _Oh. _The gun's name. You're not funny._

Krieg paused to listen to his mind arguing with itself for once, heavily amused, but the pause gave way to being bitten by one of the more rabid and agile stalkers, letting out a grunt as he tried to stomp the thing's brain in. It took him taking out his saw and plunging it into the creature's abdomen to keep it still, and shooting it to death promptly after, when Krieg found himself shocked by its persistence, to even survive being pierced in such a manner.

Once it stopped moving, the solution to its liveliness was to hack off the creature's head, Krieg gave himself a moment to take a breather, sitting on its corpse and surrounding himself by the corpses of the others. The ambiance did not remain for long, nor did he expect for it to. He got to his feet when he noticed the body of a psycho floating within the air, balled up into a light blue.

_Ew. I think we found the Shorty guy. Where's the ECHO- oh, yeah, you tossed it._

The violent grumbles of Krieg did not stop his inner mind from lecturing him. Nevertheless, when they returned to Sanctuary, he would tell Scooter that they did their mission, and that they were in need of two more ECHOs. Perhaps it was time for him to finally get one, even though everyone strongly believed that he would abuse it. And he had every intention of doing so, so they were not incorrect.

He took a step to take the floating psycho out of the air, instead grasping at nothing when it jerked about and moved away from his fingers. Instead, he felt the same bite that as before when he was fighting stalkers.

_Not this shit again. Make it quick.  
_

Krieg snorted, agreeing with the voice but not admitting it, and started the chase to kill the stalker carrying Shorty. The pistol came in use- and Krieg didn't mind shouting about fisting- when it was bound to be hiding, but so did the ability to see the midget inside of the carnivorous stalker. It was quickly slinking into the realm of aggravating, however, when the stalker proceeded to not die, no matter how many bullets was plugged into its body. He could tell of the creature's misery and pain from the limp it now wore, the blue blood coating the ice, smeared by its claws and Krieg's own footsteps.

Those crippling hits still did not halt the beast. It continued to move all the way up to Krieg's rampage, which the inner voice believed to be overkill. Krieg paused to hit himself in the face, receiving a groan of complaint from the voice, then turned to look at the midget who was so glad to be free from the Stalker's digestive system at last.

_Alright, so we freed Shor-_

Once Shorty turned to look at his rescuer with a knife and a grin that Krieg knew all too well as one of bloodlust, he almost instantaneously decapitated the smaller psycho, and then kicked the head to some distance. "**Nope**."

_Oh. So I guess that's it, then. No matter. We still have to find Gaige._

Krieg threw his saw in the air for a moment, catching it with the usual blank stare.

_...Maybe we should... return to Sanctuary. She wasn't here. I mean... she didn't stay here. We already killed Smash Head. There's no point now... Maybe we should just check in Sanctuary for her._

It took a lot for the inner voice to have such a quiver of lost hope in his voice. But it made sense, to return. So without a fight, Krieg turned back from where he had once came from.

* * *

"Anywhere. Please."

Gaige panted, one hand holding her up against the cold ground and her legs dragging her as far as she could go. She pressed her hand against the Fast Travel, letting it choose her destination and closing her eyes as she dematerialized to a place that she would not have the pleasure of knowing until she was there.

* * *

_**AN: R-R-Respawn!  
(I really hate the Hyperion Respawn AI. Such a bitch.)  
**_


	6. Floating Garbage Can

_**AN; Edits edits edits edits  
(Also, to the guest review, the story won't be over for a while! Don't fret.)  
**_

* * *

Sanctuary was literally on the list of places Krieg did not enjoy staying at. Unfortunately for him, and all the other Vault Hunters, it was the central hub- where everything occurred, where missions were granted and turned in. It wouldn't be too aggravating if the people of the flying city didn't _bang on every door, _didn't practically kiss_ where you walked,_ and didn't mention what their families did or did not devour. Not to mention the boxes that littered the town, the giant relic that kept the city afloat... The city was as dirty and badly designed as it was poorly inhabited. There weren't many citizens, and even then those there managed to make Krieg- and even the inner part of him- want to strangle each and every one of them. It was that switch that could be easily flickered from insanity to placidity that left many of the older Vault Hunters more paranoid of him.

He was not the only one. Some of the more- perhaps not sane, but not on the brink of madness- decent inhabitants were also aware of the obnoxious habits of those chosen to live in Sanctuary. They agreed, though not to Krieg directly, on how aggravating it was, and that was why they usually made it a point to not be around any longer than they had to be. For once, Krieg had actually wanted them to be here in Sanctuary. At least, finding Gaige would have been easier that way. A part of him ultimately wanted to quit; Gaige could easily find her way back without his assistance, if she had not already.

But that was where the problem arose- she had not. Gaige was not here. When he tried to communicate with the people of Pandora, they added no useful information on her whereabouts. If anything, they confused him by referring to them all as "Vault Hunter", a very useless term when there was well over eight of them living in Sanctuary. Perhaps Roland, the only one in which they didn't call a Vault Hunter, would know... It was a major disappointment that he was seldom in the city as well.

Nevertheless, on a pseudo-optimistic trip to the main headquarters for the Vault Hunters, Krieg managed to stop himself from strangling a woman who wouldn't end her incessant knocking. The voice did not help his desire to hang her by her innards, but the two made it to the door without causing great harm to anything but Marcus' gun vending machine, which now bore a decent fist print on the side.

For a moment, he left his hand lingering on the doorknob, hesitant of entering. He was not formally invited to be a part of the Vault Hunters, essentially. Sure, he was able to enter occasionally to put things into the bank, but there was always an mistrusting, watching eye. More often than not, it was Salvador, who the voice thought should be watched more if anything, having _cannibal_ on his list of crimes. He did not want to pass boundaries- the inner Krieg, anyway, whose voice haunted Krieg himself to not open the door. It was a brash movement that he made that jerked the door out of place, slamming it against the wall once the deed had been done.

And a young woman just stared at him, confused as to who did it. It took her a moment to glance over him- two, actually, the second to reassure herself that Sanctuary had not been broken into and rampaged by psychopaths, and realized that it was indeed Maya's 'new pet' as some called him behind his back. Salvador had no problem calling him that to his face.

Their eyes didn't break contact, and the woman with short brown hair and doe-like eyes- only for a moment, upon her initial shock- glared at Krieg for entering without knocking first. "Swine," she hissed, turning to glare at him. "I was recording another ECHO, and now I have such an abrupt, deafening noise on it! How am I going to explain this to myself when I listen to this days from now when Sanctuary is in ruins and I escape the madness?"

_Oh god. She's the insane woman we were warned about. Look, try not to talk to her- Oh my god, what is that. Up. Look _up.

And so Krieg did, to see a chair plummeting back down to Earth, hitting him square on the head and smashing it to very thin, frail wooden pieces, along with some of the woman's spirit, evident by her scream.

"Clork! Oh my god, Clork, are you okay? No, no, don't go to the light, Clork! You are too young, you have to keep fighting! Phillipe wouldn't want you to go like this, no! Stay with me- I can fix you!"

The woman got to work immediately, throwing herself to the ground and taking the pieces of his limbs, cradling them to her chest. Once everything was gathered, she jerked up and to her desk, throwing everything off to the side- hitting Krieg with some of her more innocent belongings that had been in her way- and setting to work with fine wooden glue that had tape over the actual brand and poorly written over with the words "Ceiling Chair Band-aids". Krieg felt those eyes stare daggers at him, his feelings of discomfort growing with every passing moment.

I... _I think she wants you to help her._

Krieg stood silently, staring at the woman as harshly as she did him. It took them a moment to break the silence, and it was with as harsh of a tone as Krieg had hoped would come out, knowing well that he was best at giving off a disturbed vibe. "It's a **CHAIR**. You **sit** on it. It doesn't **die,** it doesn't **bleed,** it's a **chair**."

_What the hell? Apologize! We have to ask her where the others are!_

"Don't **you** tell me what to do!" Krieg snarled, reaching for his saw. The woman let out a gasp, dropping her work on the chair to glance around anxiously for the weapon that Roland had given her in case of emergency. Once found, she aimed down the sight to Krieg's over-sized chest without another word. "Clork, don't worry, Patty will protect you..."

_Now she thinks we're here to hurt the chair...  
_"Maybe we are," Krieg teased. The inner voice could practically feel himself losing a bit of his cool, but recollected himself to reprimand the psycho.  
_This _isn't_ a joke._

For a moment, Tannis thought that she was hallucinating the giant psycho in her space, but reality was reality- and Clork was in pain. The little chair gazed up at her with a desperateness to be protected, and the psycho that they had been tagged with the name "Krieg" was their first and foremost enemy at the present. She lowered the gun nevertheless, priorities being refocused back on Clork and his many broken limbs. "Leave, you monster," Tannis stated, boldly as it was against a literal beast of a man in both stature and power. But her child, her baby was in danger...

_Try to tell her we have no interest in her stupid chair and that we only want to ask her about Gaige, or even any Vault Hunter. I'd rather not speak to her any longer than we have to-_

"We don't want your damn chair," Krieg bellowed.

_No, you don't say "we"!_

Krieg shrugged. The words got out how the inner voice had wanted them to. In Krieg's opinion, if the nagging voice would just be quest for a moment and allow him to do things his way, then they wouldn't even be in this situation.

Tannis paused in the works of her surgery, delicately 'bandaging' Clork's limbs back to his body to glance up at Krieg through her goggles. "We? My dear psychopath, we are the only ones who are in this facility at the present, and between you and me, _I _do want my little Clorky. Now on the topic of _you, _however, you can go somewhere very far away. Perhaps return to the bandit group that you had drifted in from. Yes, I am sure the Vault Hunter Maya was grateful that you saved her life- and endangered her to begin with, truthfully with what she had told us- but you can get going now, before you hurt Clork again."

_Tell her that isn't what we are interested in doing... Tell her Gaige is missing. Tell her she's the only one here who can help us._

For a moment, Krieg let his lips move to the words that he was being prodded to say. It only lasted for that split moment, bested by his sweeping hand motion to knock Clork off the table and sit on it himself.

_What in the hell are you doing?_

"Clork!" Tannis cried out, moving to the chair to rearrange him. "You brute, what is wrong with you!" She sized him up, glancing over his body with a scientific curiosity. When she was done, she put the repaired Clork back on the ceiling and folded her arms, full attention on Krieg. "What did my chairs ever do to you? We've survived too much to fall to a 'Vault Hunter' Psycho that has _clearly_ lost it."

_Says you._

"Short girl... missing." Krieg managed, sighing once he mustered up the words. It took too much out of him to not yell them, not when this woman was boiling his blood and he could not do a thing to stop it, not when the inner voice- as much as he had a disdain for her- would kill them if he did so. "Just... wanted to ask where she was."

Tannis paused to listen to his words, raising an eyebrow. "Short girl? I wouldn't know a short girl. Oh, you mean Gaige! I have not seen her. But while you are on that table, may I look at something?" She did not give him the time to respond, taking hold of his bandaged left arm and causing Krieg to flinch. It took everything out of him to not retaliate, to not punch this deranged woman in the face, causing for the inner voice to flip out...

_Calm down, calm down... We can handle this. Just let her do what she wants..._

The soothing words- the ones that Krieg despised far beyond comprehension- didn't help when he felt those hands traveling along his body. Occasionally Tannis would remark on his body while she searched him, with things such as "These scars are hideous." "Your anatomy is awkward." "Why are you wearing this metal piece? Those collars? And... that thing on your shoulder. What is it?"

Now, once her hands went for the little device on his back, he flipped out. He did not hurt her, but he fell back and off the table, the only defense mechanism he could perform that would not injure her. She did realize she hit a sore point- did not care, but did acknowledge it- and shrugged it off. "Is that what has you do... that odd thing that you do? That device, connected into that arm of yours. Does that cause your mutation?" He did not respond nor feel the need to respond.

For now, his trip here was done. He managed to recuperate and get to his feet, ignoring the woman's yelling for him to return so that they could share a bed perhaps, after a nice cup of hot tea and skag treats. On the next offer of experiments, though, Krieg felt extraordinarily uncomfortable, and it was quickly agreed upon that they should both leave. They did so with as much haste as they did entering.

_Disgusting... And we learned nothing, other than this woman really does frequently ask people to bed with her. I did not believe Axton was being serious when he said she offered. And when Maya said she offered. And when _Gaige_ said she offered. I have... no words, for this woman._

"Shoulda killed her," Krieg grumbled.

_No. We can try the others. Perhaps Zed. Not Marcus. Or even Scooter. But not her. Maybe we can ask Scooter to repair the New-U station. Even if it's one that respawns us in Sanctuary... It's better than dying and not coming back. As that stupid AI says... "Hyperion would like to remind you that there is only one thing worse than respawning, and that is not respawning"._


	7. Overlooked and Misunderstood

_**AN: **_holy shit guys i am so sorry. i start college soon and have no financial aid at all and it's been really rough. this is a poorly written chapter imo because i completely forgot what was supposed to happen here but i didn't want to stop where i was and screw you guys over. i know how it feels to like something- and i love all of you for liking it, or at least giving it a glance- and then having the author NEVER POST AGAIN. so... it might not be up to par. but i'm sorry i didn't post, really. forgive me with this, i'll try continuing, and i hope you won't be too rough. i remember all where i'm going with this, just... not this part.

* * *

_So. I'd like to formally apologize. Perhaps going there was a poor idea on my part. I did not think that would... start, the way that it did._

Krieg groaned, arms folded. The two, after fleeing Sanctuary's family disaster, were sitting in Overlook. At least there, no one judged them... for their more monster-like qualities. Not that they could vocalize it, even if they did, and that was good enough for them.

_So we are back to square one, then. We can't find Gaige, we can't get help... we can't die._

"And if she died?" Krieg muttered, kicking the earth beneath his feet, ripping out blades of grass from its spot and sending it hurting in the ar with its dirt debris.

_...We don't know that, so we don't stop. Krieg, she tried to come back for us. I don't think that she'd stop looking either._

"How do _**you**_ know that? Do _**you**_ talk to them?"

The silence remained between the two of them. It bore into the inner Krieg's mind, though it was not Gaige who filled his thoughts- she was definitely a part of it, yes, way back in his head- but the more... peculiar woman in Sanctuary was who he couldn't help but think of, her and her demented son.

"_Ma? Oh, I doubt she'd know anythin' bout respawn or yer friend," Scooter shrugged, fiddling with his hat and leaning back comfortably in his chair. "I don't know if I can fix somethin' like that. That's on Hyperion, man. Who's t'say that they didn't just shut that junk down ta get rid of ya Vault Hunters once an' for all? Shit's tough, y'know?"_

_Krieg stood, taking in the words though not giving a sign that anything had registered. He gave that blank stare, and Scooter returned it with one of his own._

_"You want me t'speak a li'l slower?"_

"_No." But not at all would be appreciated. The inner Krieg did not comment on it at all, and was being relatively quiet..._

_Krieg left the building in the same state of pessimism that he had entered. Was the man even going to _try_ to fix the respawn? It didn't matter to _them_... They didn't use it as often as the Vault Hunters did. If anything, the failure of the respawn was definitely keeping them on their toes. Still, it was dangerous and unfortunate for Gaige and Krieg, both Vault Hunters who had a tendency to desire the gore from up close. People like Zero, Axton and Maya... They could get away with range. _

Let's just try Moxxi. Maybe she would've seen Gaige.

_There was no real energy left in him to argue. Sanctuary drained him. It was mentally intoxicating, practically, and the voice agreed indefinitely. He didn't want to be here any longer... and he was beginning to slip in and out, which was dangerous enough. Leaving Krieg to his own devices in Sanctuary might mean a lot of lives lost, including their own when the inner Krieg was done. _

_Meanwhile, Krieg himself was wondering if their little deal extended past flesh. Claptrap wasn't fleshy. And he swore if he had to hear the little monstrosity scream 'CLAPTRAP BEAT BOX TIME, CHECK IT!' one more time, he was going to rip out any piece of hardware that allowed speech implanted in him and smash it with a hammer._

_The bar was as lively as usual- and generally, it's liveliness did not mean much to begin with. The colors were different than the norm, at least, with its pink and red neon lights. It was the most noticeable and different thing in Sanctuary. Inside was a nice red, the chairs were comfortable- At least, more comfortable than the splintered, wooden benches that they had sat on before._

_It was more welcoming than most rundown places in Sanctuary. And his last hope of getting any information out of the inhabitants, so Krieg- taking the advice of the inner voice, for once- was going to be very slow going in his motions, as to not startle anyone, to look as placid as possible as some 'monster' could be. But as slow as he agreed to, he still was on every alert, and swore that he felt shadows lurking behind them, though not ones of danger or threat..._

"_Hey sugar," Moxxi smiled, a glass in her hand. She moved forward, resting her arms on the table while the rest of her body relaxed. "You remind me of someone. One of my old husbands. Mr. Shank... Ah, he was a bulky one too. Doubt you use a knife like he did. ...Or have a boyfriend."_

_Her eyes glanced up and down Krieg's physique, laughing, while the man himself felt awkward about having this woman's eyes devouring him. "Oh, but you do remind me of him. What can I do you for?" _

_They were staring at each other for a long time- Krieg's eyes did not traverse to the woman's breasts, no, but he had no idea of what to say. For a moment, the voice was afraid that he would regress back to 'poop trains', and that would be the end of that. He would _have_ to get them out of there, there would be no hope in finding information at that point. After a while, Moxxi gave an awkward smile and stood upright, wondering why the man had not said... a word. Sure, something sexual would be sure to pop into the conversation, whether it be intentional or a slip of the mind, but _nothing? _It was a little endearing that this man wasn't staring her breasts down... no, not her breasts, but her. That was still a little strange, though._

"_Sugar?"_

_"Missing."_

_"What...?"_

_Krieg had managed to choke out one word, much to the dismay of the voice. He would've preferred their silent gaze, but they were making slow but sure progress on attempting to locate Gaige. Moxxi gave a vacant stare, leaning back against the shelves of liquor. "Sweetie, I don't know what you're trying to say..."_

"_Gaige... missing," he groaned. Although the voice was proud of Krieg's ability to keep that inner voice, there was no doubt that he was struggling. "Can't... find."_

"_Oh, you're talking about that little sweetheart. She... well, last I saw her, she was with you."_

_Krieg nodded with a sigh. Maybe she didn't return to Sanctuary, after all. It was with that, that Moxxi moved to rest a hand on Krieg's shoulder. She opened her mouth to say something, but that did not stop Krieg's flinch and immediate withdrawal, his general defensive mechanism to knock her hand away. She looked hurt, to be declined like that, and took her own hand into the other, frowning a little. "Sugar-"_

_That was when everything moved too fast, the climax that Krieg did not expect. No, he did not see Scooter, not since they left his workshop. But there he was, a gun aimed towards the man who seemed to have inflicted some sort of sadness on his mother. "HEY! You! Y'monster, what did you do?"_

_"Scooter, he didn't-"_

_"He came here when I told 'im y'knew anythin', why'd you come?!"_

_Krieg let out a groan, knowing the conflict was out of his control. His only alternative was to fight back, to take bullets and give them in return... but then it wouldn't matter any, because the voice would kill them both with the same gun he'd use to defend himself._

_Instead, Krieg raised his arms defensively and slowly, his hands up and his face impassive._

"_I saw th'way you looked at her! And you hit her!"_

But... we didn't even do anything. We asked her a question!

_Krieg shook his head. There was no point in reasoning with the insane, and the inner Krieg understood that, but..._

"_Get out!"_

_He gritted his teeth and began to leave the way he came. Moxxi was hollering at Scooter, but the faster they left, the better._

Krieg, on the edge of a rock in Overlook, shook his head. It was pointless to return- not that he was complaining, at least he knew that she had not made it there. But... she couldn't be in the Fridge. There was no sign, not even blood. So she wasn't dead, but there was no proof she was alright, either.

_Do you wish we were... normal, sometimes?_

"No."

_I thought not._

"If we were..." Krieg began, frowning a tad, though as a part of his moment of thoughtfulness. "...How would we find her?"

They sat in a bout of silence, before the inner Krieg gave a soft laugh.

_Yeah. You're right. Let's keep going, then.  
_


End file.
